White Threads

Brown thread? Or something else?

This morning, Tamsin from Berrima Patchwork posted the following picture on their Facebook page:
She asked what colour the thread is – given that it looks brown, and she’s going to use it on a brown quilt, but it is not brown. She gave the helpful hint that it is made of two colours together. So what two colours do you think it is?

You can post your response here, and also use the link above to comment directly on the Berrima Patchwork Facebook page.

We might use this as a starting point for some discussion of colour theory. 🙂

Raspberry Christmas

Given that Christmas in Australia is in summer season, we tend to have different connotations for what Christmas is like compared to those in the northern hemisphere. There’s certainly no snow! Here, we often have hot Christmas days, where a barbeque, salads and a swim are much more likely than a hot Christmas roast and pudding. Dessert is more likely to consist of a fruit platter.

On Friday afternoon I had had enough of “proper” work. I just wanted to do some embroidery, and so I pulled out some fabric and thread and an old Christmas ornament pattern of mine and reinterpreted it with a contemporary Christmas colour scheme.
Raspberries are a summer fruit, and so this Christmas ornament celebrates a summery Christmas, with raspberry colours, rather than the usual red. The thread used for the kloster blocks is a DMC Color Variations pearl cotton, so is easily obtainable. All the other threads are also DMC threads.

While the traditional Christmas-coloured version of this pattern has been available for a while, I thought that some might like this new Raspberry Christmas ornament, so I now have the details of this new colour scheme to the pattern as well. You can purchase the pattern for the Hardanger Christmas ornament from the Vetty Creations website.

Portuguese Whitework – book review

Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães by Yvette Stanton

Also in my new copy of Inspirations yesterday, there was a review by Susan O’Connor, of my book Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães.

Some excerpts from the review:

Yvette has an insatiable fascination with whitework styles and this, her fifth book, explores the embroidery of the northern Portuguese town of Guimarães.

It’s my sixth book, actually… 😉 But you’re absolutely right in saying that I have an insatiable fascination with whitework!

The stitch diagrams are excellent and show every step in each process in perfect detail, making the book ideal for even the newest embroiderer. Fine points such as turning corners with a stitch and concluding a border are explained in full and leave no questions unanswered.

Thank you, Susan, for your kind words.

You could win one of five copies of Portuguese Whitework from Inspirations. Details of how to enter the competition are included in the magazine.

Inspirations scissor fob – part 2

Today I received my copy of Inspirations 76. It is a lovely magazine, as always. Deborah’s Mountmellick tablecloth is simply gorgeous!

In the project I have in the magazine – a Portuguese whitework scissor fob called “Squared Away” – I did discover one or two things that I felt were unclear in the diagrams, so am providing my own versions of them here.

Diagram 4 for Squared Away by Yvette Stanton, Inspirations 76

Diagram 4: This shows that the cut is made DIRECTLY beside the ends of the satin stitching, not with one thread in between, as is shown in the magazine.

Diagram 6 for Squared Away by Yvette Stanton, Inspirations 76

Diagram 6: This shows that for each of the 9 satin stitches along the bottom edge, there is a fabric thread between. There is NOT one thread sitting out past the left-most satin stitch, as is shown in the magazine.

Diagram 8 for Squared Away by Yvette Stanton, Inspirations 76

Diagram 8: This shows that the satin stitches extend from the tacking line outwards. They do not sit across the tacked line as is shown in the magazine. The three threads they span are OUTSIDE the tacked line.

While every effort is made during the proofing processes of the magazine to get everything absolutely perfect, sometimes errors do slip through. I hope that these diagrams will help make the instructions a little clearer. I was just concerned that if people use the diagrams in the magazine, they will possibly make some mistakes.

If you have further questions about the project, please do not hesitate to ask. You can learn more about Portuguese Whitework in Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães by Yvette Stanton. I also stock a full range of supplies for this style of embroidery.

Inspirations 76 – Portuguese whitework scissor fob

Portuguese Whitework scissor fob by Yvette Stanton

Image courtesy of Country Bumpkin

Country Bumpkin have the new issue of Inspirations, Issue 76, up on their website. I have something in this one: a small scissor fob featuring Portuguese Whitework. If you haven’t tried Portuguese Whitework yet, this little project is a great way to start. And then you can move on to some more larger projects in my book, Portuguese Whitework, Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães!

Inspirations describes the project thus:

If whitework is your passion or you like to try different techniques, this sweet scissor fob will make a perfect project. Worked in the style of Guimarães embroidery from Portugal, drawn thread work forms a frame for the bullion flower and eyelet at the centre of the design. The red silk lining provides an elegant contrast to the crisp white linen. The fob is finished with a tassel and red crystal beads.

There is also a Mountmellick project in the same issue, but it isn’t one of mine – it is by Deborah Love. It features strawberries (not actually a traditional subject matter for Mountmellick ;-)), and looks gorgeous. Deborah and I were both tutors at Beating Around the Bush a few years back, and it was great to get to know her better because as her surname would suggest, she’s quite lovely!

If you need Portuguese Whitework supplies for the fob, or Mountmellick supplies for the project, I can supply just what you need.

Christmas ornament

Last week I posted the details of a new (old) Hardanger pattern which I had finally put on my website. It has been very popular, so in the lead up to Christmas, I thought it might be worthwhile to post about one of my favourite little designs – my organza Hardanger Christmas ornament.

The Organza Hardanger Ornament features a band of traditional-style Hardanger which is constructed into a tetrahedron shape. It is suitable for intermediate to advanced stitchers, as although the Hardanger stitching is simple, it has an added degree of challenge because the base fabric has an organza overlay. This gives the ornament an all-over added sparkle, making it an excellent addition to any Christmas tree.

If you’re not sure that you’re up to working through an organza overlay, the ornament could also be successfully worked without it in white on white as shown, or even in colour. Without the overlay, the stitching is really at a beginner level, so is achievable for those without prior Hardanger experience. A suggestion of colours would be natural coloured linen, with white/cream and blood red stitching.

Of course, it doesn’t just have to be used as a Christmas decoration. It is stunning in its own right, and can be used as an ornament at any time of the year!

The pattern and step-by-step instructions for this ornament can be purchased from the Vetty Creations online shop.

Not going to Suva

Yesterday I spoke with one of the people associated with Operation Foundation in Fiji. They work in both the men’s and women’s prisons in Suva helping to rehabilitate the male and female prisoners so that they can go back to their communities on release.

We discussed the possibility of me spending the day teaching embroidery at the women’s prison on the day the cruise that I am teaching on in February visits Fiji.

I would LOVE to do something like that!

And then my husband questioned, “but are you going to Suva or Lautoka?” I realised that unfortunately I’ll be going to Lautoka. 🙁 I’m so disappointed! Even though only the possibility of it had been suggested, I was already really looking forward to it.

Maybe another time.

digital supply of needlework patterns

After posting details of my new pattern yesterday, I received an email from one of my lovely readers asking if I would consider supplying my patterns digitally as PDFs. My heart sank. Believe me, it would be so much easier if I could offer patterns digitally – fewer trees used to print on, faster delivery, no outlay for me on paper, printing etc etc.

However, until a lot of things change, unfortunately I will not be offering my patterns digitally as PDFs or in any other digital format.

Why not?

Firstly, I must emphasise that I am not implying that my correspondent had nefarious things in mind. I am sure that she could only see the wonderful benefits such as easy delivery. And for a purchaser, they are wonderful benefits.

Selling via PDF is something many designers have considered, some accepted and some rejected. I am amongst those who have rejected it. The reason why is because of digital pirates and the breaching of copyright. You may be familiar with The Gift of Stitching Magazine. One of the reasons why it is no longer published is because of people “sharing” it amongst themselves. (You can read a response to it ceasing publication here.)

Too many people either don’t know or don’t care about the fact that “sharing” a digital pattern breaches copyright. I have heard selling PDFs described in the following way: “it makes too easy to share with 1000 of your nearest and dearest friends.”

As a designer and author I put many many hours worth of work into each of my designs, and many many more into my books. I expect to be paid for that. If I sell my patterns as PDFs then it basically just encourages those dishonest people who would rather get something for nothing, because it makes it far too easy for my patterns to be distributed illegally. That’s not going to pay my bills, and if my bills aren’t paid I can’t keep designing.

I already get regular alerts telling me that things I have designed are being “shared” illegally on the internet. This is even without providing digital patterns! While these breaches of copyright can be reported to the hosting providers or such places, it takes time and effort, and there is no guarantee that the files will be removed, or if they are, that the poster will not just pop up somewhere else under another alias, offering the same things again.

You can read more about how a couple of internationally renown designers have been affected by piracy (and many more have been affectd by piracy than just these two!):
Ellen Chester, of With My Needle
Scarlet Quince

I’m sorry if this really discourages you, but for the moment, until PDFs can be delivered in such a way that they cannot be shared, I cannot consider selling my work in that way. Some may have taken the decision to do so, but I cannot currently do so.

New (old) Hardanger pattern

Some years ago – about five, actually – I taught a class where the project was a traditional-style Hardanger runner. I’ve had a photo of it on the Hardanger page of my website for many years, but I’ve never actually made the pattern widely available.

From time to time I receive emails from people asking “Where can I get that pattern?” I received another one overnight. So this morning, I’ve finally gotten around to uploading the pattern information to my website so that it is available to everyone.

The pattern is called Anniken, and it is named after a Norwegian penpal I had when I was at school. We lost touch many years ago and I sometimes wonder where she is and what she is doing now. I hope she is happy!

Anyway, back to the pattern!

This beautiful Hardanger whitework runner is based on traditional-style Hardanger designs. Traditionally, Hardangersøm (or embroidery from Hardanger) was worked in white thread on white linen. It was worked in long bands, and did not use the buttonhole edge that is so frequently seen on contemporary Hardanger.

The stitches used in this project are traditional Hardanger stitches. Drawn thread bands were often used along the edges of Hardanger, and eyelet clusters were also common. The other stitches (satin stitch, four-sided stitch, needleweaving and cable stitch) remain common in contemporary Hardanger embroidery.

Anniken Hardanger runner pattern is available for purchase through the Vetty Creations website.

yarn bombing, guerilla knitting

We’ve all heard about yarn bombing and guerilla knitting – covering usually public structures in hand knitted fabric to make the world a nicer, softer place. A few years ago when we were visiting Canberra (Australia’s capital city) they had yarn bombed the National Gallery of Australia. Sculptures and bollards outside in the garden were covered in brightly covered yarn, the huge columns outside the gallery were wrapped in knitting, and railings were covered.

Yesterday my husband sent me a link to an ABC TV story about a short film that is being created around the idea of yarn bombing. It can be found at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-04/a-tight-knite-film/4351930

It looks like a fun project to be involved with!